Material heating ovens of the past such as depyrogenation ovens have required frequent, highly labor intensive cleaning of cooling systems in order to sterilize them for use. One of the cleaning methods commonly employed involves manually wiping the interior surfaces with a sterilizing agent to remove unwanted particulate matter. It is difficult if not impossible to remove all undesirable particulate matter using this method. Another method of cleaning ovens involves fogging the interior of the oven with a sterilizing agent.
Ovens used for heating objects such as glassware often have cooling systems which cool glassware too rapidly, causing breakage to occur. These ovens generally do not have the capability to cool materials in a precisely controlled manner.
Pressure control systems are commonly used in conjunction with material heating ovens to maintain sterile environments at greater positive pressures than the adjacent environments. This pressure differential functions to maintain airflow, if any, in a direction away from the sterile environment towards the surrounding generally particle laden environment so that impurities do not enter the former environment.
It would be desirable to have a material heating oven including a sterilizing system which eliminates manual sterilization of the oven before start-up, which may include a controlled cooling system for preventing glassware breakage, and which may include a controlled pressurization system for maintaining cleanliness in a sterile environment.